My car has a hesitation to it that my mechanic says cannot be "tuned" out of it because of the carb design. He thinks I need a 650 double pumper Holley. There seems to be varing opinions on which carbs are the best,and I basically am happy w/ my edelbrock,my concern is when I get to the track where I WILL get some traction is that the car will bog on the line.He says with the double pumper it will be instantenous.

 

Your mechanic is an idiot. There is no hesitation that is inherent to the edelbrock/carter design. Your carb may need some work, but it is not something that cannot be tuned out.

IMO if he cant work on an edelbrock carb, I definately wouldnt trust him with a holley.

 

Amen to that .
Carters (now Edelbrock) are the most trouble free carbs in the universe. :werd:

 

Buy a new mechanic before ya buy a new carb.
Do you want some help "tuning out" the bog?

 

Properly tuned or not, the Holley DP will most likely out-run the Edelbrock at the track. Holley VS would probably run about the same as the Performer.

The DP is just a better design for the drag strip.

 

That is correct, the AFB will never be as good a performance carb as the Holley, But, IMO it is light years ahead of the Holley on the street in both mileage, dependability and leaks. If I were to step up to another carb it would be a BG. The AFB is also very easily tuned.
Let me put that differently, a Holley in a correct state of tune will outrun an AFB in a correct state of tune. Unfortunately the Holley is almost always out of tune and the AFB will stay in tune for years.

 

Well, to echo what others have said, your mechanic is like many gearheads that grew up on Holleys and see Carters and Q-Jets as a black science they can't comprehend and can't work on. Find someone that knows what they are doing and they will be able to help get your carb properly tuned.

As far as street manners and power I think the Q-Jet is probably the best. You can get very good economy out of it and it will still rip when you crack the whip on it.

 

cant help but agree..........besides,my edelbrock is almost new.And for my car,I built it for weekend street fun and cruising,drag strip just to see.........I'm not going to tell him {mechanic} what everyone said but I've been told all my life Q-jets were eaoser to tune than holleys. It might be different if I had the mechanical ability to do it for myself,but i dont nad that being said im stickin w/ the edelbrock.Thanks guys!

 

On a Carter-afb, could the air valve be wired open,
for the dragstrip?

 

Tex: Correct me if I'm wrong. Your first post says you have not actually been to the track to test the carb yet but are expecting it to bog "with traction".
I assume that means slicks.

Tell us more about your setup, tune and what you are experiencing.

 

I must be very lucky because I don't seem to have much problem keeping my 6210 or my 3310 tuned at all............

 

Do not wire the air valve open on the AFB, if you've already done this, it would most likely explain the bog. Now if your talking about the choke, that's different.
Well 65, you might have never had a problem with a Holley but I'll bet my butt, my housecat and my cowboy hat that 75% of the other people on this board have.
Back in the day of Holley 3310's from the factory, they were quality pieces, that is not my opinion of them these days, they're crap. That's the reason Barry Grant is building his own carbs, trying to find 3 Holleys in a row that you can correct the bore dimensions has proven impossible. They're so thin and off center it's like trying to machine paper mache'

 

Oh I have had my problems with holley carburetors,believe me.But that is how a proper education is born,in my younger days when I knew it all, it was do everything 5 times before I read the instructions and got it right.Now it seems to come alot easier because I have not lost that part of my memory.........yet

 

This motor is a fresh rebuild.It's not banging at all.What started this is my mechanic was driving the car and when you leave the line there is a slight hesitation.All he was saying is that with a 650 doubler pumper {correct for my set-up} there would be no hesitation.And yes,he is old school and grew up w/ Holleys.He also owns and drives the first "stock" Camaro to run in the 10's.{NHRA & IHRA}WE work together & tommorow I am going to write down exactly why he said you can't tune this out. No harm,no foul,just having a good time. I wouldnt doubt all of you guys know more than I do & I certainly appreciate everyones feedback.But,as far as my mechanic goes,he may not be "***" of the small block,but he's definitely one of the wise men!!!

 

I have an old 3310 Holley (I mean OLD!!) and after I rebuilt it, got all the engine's other bugs worked out, and learned how to tune it, its great! I love this carb! The car gets about the same gas mileage as it did with the Qjet before it, it starts MUCH easier at any temp, runs much smoother at any temp, and its MUCH faster and smoother at WOT!!

The only things I did to the carb (other than a basic rebuild) were changing the primary jets from 72 to 69 and added an electric choke. I have no doubt the car would be a few tenths faster at least, at the drag strip, over what it could do with the Qjet, but I never took it there before, so I can't say for sure.

I don't know much about Edelbrock carbs, but when my Holley had a bad hesitation off the line, its because the accelerator pump cam was in the wrong position. I changed that, and it fixed it right away.

 

A "slight hesitation" is not that big a deal. To fix.
The first thing you want to check is the condition of the ignition system, next check for a carb or intake manifold vacuum leak. Even a minor manifold vacuum leak can cause a pesky hesitation as one or more cylinders will be lean.
Then:

There are many things that you can tweek (tune)on a AFB (and a holley for that matter) to tune the throttle hesitation out.
Things like initial timing setting, throttle blade/transfer slot referencing, accelerator pump linkage and discharge nozzle adjustments, launch rpm (throttle position) etc etc.

A holley 650DP is just as likely to have th same flat spot as the carb you have now.

Does the motor hesitate when you floor it (WOT from a stop)?or part throttle tip in?-
or rolling into the throttle from cruising speed to WOT?
What happens if you raise the rpm (open the throttle) just a little more higher off idle just before ya floor the gas pedal? Better? worse?

when was the last time you changed the spark plugs and ignition wires?
Makes a big difference in throttle response.

Need more basic info on your motor
Cam, intake manifold etc etc. Trans torque converter stall speed?

Your mechanic friend doesn't know as much as he'd have you believe.
Stick with the carb you have now and tune it.

If he really was up on NHRA stock eliminator cars he would not be bashing your AFB carb.

 

The problem isnt with what carb, its with the carb thats on it. Yeah, for the dragstrip you would be better with the DP, but that doesnt mean its the right carb for the car, either. I dont think your guy is one of the wise men either, if he thinks that the bog is because of a design flaw. That design has been in operation longer than he has, if I had my guess.